


The Touch of Your Skin

by thundercracer



Category: BanG Dream! (Anime), BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Just another... fricking soulmate au from me, don't mind me with my Very Specific Genre, in which Arisa is just... real GayTM
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-23
Updated: 2019-03-23
Packaged: 2019-11-28 21:42:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18214022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thundercracer/pseuds/thundercracer
Summary: Living in a world where your mark shows up when you come into contact with your soulmate was a pretty harmless and fortunate one, all things considered. Except... Arisa didn't want to let anyone close enough to do so.





	The Touch of Your Skin

Arisa had always figured that if she had a soulmate, she’d never meet them. 

 

The very idea of someone touching her made her cringe. The sensation of another person’s skin against her own was foreign - an alien concept to her. She only willingly let her grandmother come into physical contact with her, after all. Other than her grandmother, she had no other forms of touch with other people. Thus, she didn’t have her mark. It would only show up at the touch of her soulmate, after all. 

 

If anything, Arisa avoided the mere thought of being touched. It made her skin crawl in the worst kind of way. Arisa would rather not allow anyone so close to her that they would touch her. She didn’t want to face the sort of vulnerability something like that required. 

 

Which is why, when Poppin Party! formed, she was appalled that all the girls were all so touchy feely with each other. Kasumi hugged everyone and anyone as if it was a thing to do. As though she couldn’t possibly care less as to who she touched. Saya was more about reassuring hands on shoulder blades and Rimi was hesitant with reaching out to grab a sleeve. Tae was… Tae. She constantly tried to grab at Arisa’s hair, but blonde desperately made sure she couldn’t. 

 

Arisa wore such layers all the time, too, that it was rare for her skin to come into contact with any of the others’. She didn’t even know if any of them were her soulmate or not, despite it being fairly unlikely at this point. 

 

So Arisa continued on as usual. Avoiding touch at any and all costs. 

 

After all, she wouldn’t have to open up and be vulnerable if she and her soulmate never met, right? 

 

Over time, she watched as the rest of her bandmates all got their marks one after the other. But not Tae. Hers just never seemed like it was coming. First was Kasumi - clearly, since she was constantly in others’ personal business, she was the prime candidate to find her soulmate quickly. Then was Saya. Then Rimi, even. Tae’s body held no colored marks on it, that they could see. So she either didn’t have one or she just didn’t tell them. Either seemed to be a viable option, really. 

 

And then… Kasumi just  _ had _ to go and ask that they all go on a beach trip. Didn’t she know that the beach was a pain in the ass to go to? Sand everywhere! Sun everywhere! And even worse; they’d have to wear swimsuits. 

 

Arisa hadn’t shown off that much skin… ever. Really. 

 

But Saya had said the two piece swimsuit was too good to pass up and that she just had to buy it. Arisa cursed herself for being so easily persuaded by Saya’s enthusiastic words of flattery. 

 

Though… Tae’s appreciative stare and low whistle was not discouraging in the slightest… Not that she would ever admit that to anyone, ever!

 

However… her current situation was less than favorable, in her opinion. Being clad in only a bikini at the beach was just inviting a sunburn to happen. So she decided to stay put under the umbrella where it was more than safe, under the guise of making sure the instruments weren’t stolen. Because  _ of course  _ Kasumi and Tae brought their guitars along for the trip. 

 

She watched as her friends played about in the water, seemingly carefree. Arisa felt the familiar disconnect. It was hard for her to relate to other people. Found that she quickly drifted towards the sidelines, as a silent observer. That was her usual place and its where she felt she belonged. Her heart clenched painfully at the thought, envious of her friends’ ability to make friends and blend in so easily with each other. She knew she only had herself to blame for feeling left out… 

 

“Hey, Arisa,” Tae’s voice broke her out of her mind’s tirade. “Help me out?”

 

And Arisa’s gay heart nearly exploded as Tae plopped herself right in front of her, bare back exposed and a bottle of sun lotion offered to her. Tae’s beautiful features open in wonder as she stared expectantly. 

 

_ What the hell is this situation!? _

 

“Uhh… O-Tae?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“What… are you trying to pull?”

 

Tae’s brow furrowed in momentary confusion. “I want you to help me put sun lotion on? I thought that was kind of obvious…” Her expression cleared as she seemed to think on it. “But I guess you are the type of person who needs it more spelled out.”

 

“What the hell is that supposed to mean-”

 

“Can you help me get my back? This swimsuit’s back goes lower than I’m used to and I can’t really reach it by myself.”

 

… Of course that’s what was happening. 

 

Arisa heaved out a reluctant breath as she snatched the bottle out of Tae’s hands. She ignored the way her heart fluttered at the bright, happy smile she received in return. Applying the lotion to her hands, she rubbed them together before settling them against the base of Tae’s back. She tried to ignore the way her stomach twisted at the brief gasp that escaped her friend’s lips. 

 

_ Calm yourself girl. Down. _

 

Arisa began to move her hands upwards… before everything seemed to stop in time and her heart nearly leapt into her throat. 

 

A soft lavender colored leaf symbol was on Tae’s skin where her hands had just been. Right where Arisa’s hand had come into contact with Tae’s back… She lifted the palm of her hand…  _ a blue rabbit… _

 

“Arisa?”

 

Tae’s voice brought her out of what Arisa could only describe as a panic attack. 

 

“Yeah?”

 

She noticed the way her voice cracked and cursed herself. Internally, she was flipping her lid.  _ This can’t be the first time I’ve ever touched O-Tae! Can it!? How on earth is this happening to me right now-!? _

 

“Everything okay back there?”

 

“Uh…”  _ Play it cool, Arisa!  _ “Yeah!” she lied. “Everything’s fine. Was just… checking to see if the lotion is actually a good SPF or not…”

 

“Oh!” Tae seemed to accept her lie cheerfully. “Thanks, Arisa!”

 

“No problem…” she grumbled, not knowing what to do. How was she supposed to bring this up? What if the others noticed? She glowered at Tae’s back as she continued to administer lotion, not wanting to seem suspicious with stalled hands. 

She finished and, before she could stop Tae to talk to her, the other girl leapt up and rushed back towards the others with a call of, “Thanks Arisa! I appreciate it! Come play with us!”

 

Arisa could see the purple leaf from where she was… Or was it a petal? She couldn’t quite tell… Aaaah! As if it  _ mattered _ ! It didn’t matter what it was! All that mattered was that it was  _ there _ ! Super visible to everyone right on the base of Tae’s spine! And Arisa looked down at her hand… the mark was right on the center of her palm. Not the most obvious spot, but not the most inconspicuous either. 

 

Nobody but her seemed to be paying Tae’s back much attention, though. She felt a wave of relief as the others continued playing as though nothing had just happened. Her eyes shot open with a new surge of panic as she realized what had actually just happened. 

 

_ O-TAE IS MY SOULMATE!? _

 

Arisa’s cheeks flushed a deep plum color as she sputtered to herself. Sure, she’d thought about Tae like that - she was absurdly pretty, so Arisa surely couldn’t be blamed for that, she reasoned. But for the other girl to actually be her destined soulmate? That was a different thing entirely! Far more concrete and  _ real _ than any of Arisa’s dumb fantasies or day dreams!

 

She breathed deeply, trying to steel her nerves and to get her heart rate back to a… less dangerous level. 

 

Her friends were all off playing around, completely oblivious to Arisa’s plight. And she just sat there… staring. Not knowing what else to do; not knowing what else there was that she  _ could  _ do. There wasn’t a way to make the mark go away - it was permanent as far as anyone knew. It was only a matter of time before someone or Tae herself noticed. 

 

Arisa’s palm prickled as if to remind her of the symbol marring her own flesh. Her eyes burned as she tried to fight against the sudden urge to cry. She didn’t even know why she was so upset; finding your soulmate was supposed to be a good, happy thing. Especially if you were already friends to begin with… 

 

“So, Arisa-” Saya’s voice cut through her thoughts, succeeding in scaring the living daylights out of her, “-you know you’ve been staring at O-Tae’s butt the whole day, right?”

 

Arisa squealed in surprise and reeled away from Saya who suddenly appeared next to her. And then she nearly shrieked at what her bandmate had said. She’d been doing  _ what!? _

 

“I- I have no idea what you’re talking about-”

 

“Sure you don’t,” Saya interrupted, an annoyingly smug expression on her face. “But seriously, you’ve been staring at Tae’s rear end this whole time. What’s up with you? Like we already know you’re a hopeless lesbian-” Arisa nearly choked, “-but this is a little blatantly obvious, even for you. What gives?”

 

Arisa glowered before accepting her fate. She raised her right hand towards Saya. Her friend’s smug look turned to confusion for a few moments before shifting into shock. She stared at Arisa’s palm and glanced back up at Arisa’s nervous expression. 

 

“I marked her. Her back.”

 

Saya blinked in surprise before saying, “When on earth did this happen?”

 

“Like… literally just a little bit ago. She asked me to put lotion on her back…”

 

Something clicked and Saya nodded in understanding. “So  _ that’s  _ why you’ve been staring at her back. Okay… have you just been sitting over here by yourself, panicking since?”

 

“Maybe…”

 

“Arisa…”

 

Arisa didn’t like the worry in Saya’s eyes. 

 

“Look, Saya, it doesn’t matter! I would say ‘as long as she doesn’t find out, it’ll be fine,’ but that’s so unlikely. I mean… it might actually not be. Tae is so damn oblivious as it is-”

 

“Arisa!” Saya frowned. She let out a breathy chuckle of disbelief.  “Why don’t you want her to know? Finding your soulmate is an amazing thing.”

 

“I don’t want her to be disappointed…” Arisa said, shocking Saya once more. She was already being so vulnerable today… might as well keep it going. “I don’t want to ruin this for her. Why would she want someone like me for a soulmate?”

 

“Because you’re hot,” a new voice chimed in from right behind them. Whipping around they could see that it was Tae, leaning over Arisa’s shoulder. “You’re nice and sweet too, but you’re really something else to look at you know?”

 

“O-Tae!” Arisa squeaked in surprise, blushing at the compliments. “How much of that did you hear?”

 

The taller girl wrapped her slender arms around Arisa’s curvier frame before humming in satisfaction. “All of it, probably. You two talk loudly. And I was curious why you’ve been staring at me all day long. Do you think I’m pretty?”

 

“Could you not be stupid for two seconds?” Arisa grumbled, her cheeks feeling like they were on fire. “Of course I think you’re pretty? Who wouldn’t?”

 

“Aww! Arisa!” Tae nuzzled into Arisa’s neck. “I think you’re great too! I’m so glad you’re my soulmate! Can I see the bunny on your hand?”

 

Groaning, Arisa lifted her palm towards Tae’s face, so she could see. She seemed to nod in approval before planting a solid kiss on Arisa’s already burning cheek. Arisa felt her heart nearly burst as she struggled to breathe. Saya didn’t have to look like she was enjoying it  _ that  _ much! Smug bastard!

 

“I’m very happy, Arisa! Are you not happy?”

 

Something stirred in Arisa’s chest at Tae’s words. It wasn’t that she wasn’t ‘happy’ or that she was ‘unhappy’. She was insecure and scared. But…

 

“If you’re fine, I’m fine.”

 

“I’m more than fine, Arisa! You’re so funny.”

 

Arisa felt the corners of her lips twitch upwards in a smile and she didn’t fight it. “Yeah… I might be a little silly. This is fine… this is good.”


End file.
